The verdict came after a five-week trial that began March 2, 2026, according to the Connecticut Attorney General's office. The jury concluded that Live Nation and Ticketmaster unlawfully maintained and abused monopoly power, preventing other ticketing services, venue owners, and concert promoters from successfully competing, the office said.

The jury found that Ticketmaster unlawfully maintains a monopoly in ticketing services at major concert venues, according to the press release. It also determined that Live Nation has a monopoly in the market for large amphitheaters and unlawfully requires artists who use its amphitheaters to also use its event promotion services.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and 33 other attorneys general won the case after rejecting a settlement that the U.S. Department of Justice reached with Live Nation during the trial, according to the press release. The original lawsuit was filed in May 2024 by Attorney General Tong, a coalition of 40 other states, and the DOJ.

"Today's verdict confirms what fans, artists, venues and states like Connecticut have been saying for years—Live Nation and Ticketmaster built and maintained a system that shuts out competition and drives up prices," said Attorney General Tong.

Tong said the coalition refused to accept the DOJ deal. "Even after the Department of Justice reached a weak and ill-conceived settlement, Connecticut and a coalition of other states refused to back down because we knew that deal did not go far enough to fix a broken marketplace," he said.

The lawsuit alleged that Live Nation's control over almost every aspect of the live event business — from venue ownership to event promotion to ticketing services through Ticketmaster — allowed it to raise costs for both fans and artists and suppress competition, according to the AG's office. The jury found that fans have been overcharged for concert tickets at major concert venues across the country.

Attorney General Tong and the coalition will now argue for remedies and financial penalties at a separate bench trial. "We will continue pressing forward to ensure real accountability, meaningful reform, and a system that puts consumers first," Tong said.